Monday, 31 March 2014

ConfigMgr 2012 / SCCM 2012 Migration - Package Conversion

The “Application
model” of software distribution was introduced with ConfigMgr 2012. You may still
use the traditional package/program model but the new model adds many benefits,
including the following:

More user centric – integrates with User Affinity

Integration with Application catalog (If the application is
deployed to a user, the user sees the published application in the
Application Catalog and can request it on demand. If the application is
deployed to a device, the user will see it in the Software Center and can
install it on demand).

Uses detection methods to force deployments

Automatically create detection methods

Package/program was
the only model available to distribute software in ConfigMgr 2007. When these packages
are migrated to ConfigMgr 2012 they will still remain in that original format. However there
is a tool that can convert them to the Application model – the Package
Conversion Manager (PCM).